Peak Health Wellness Insights Issue 18

Mental Resilience

Indoor plants have a calming effect in the workplace
A new study demonstrates that having a small indoor plant at work stations reduces stress and fatigue in employees. 

Sleep

Lack of adequate sleep increases new injury risk during endurance exercise training (also here)
An increase in cardiorespiratory issues, gastrointestinal problems, and psychological struggles, were seen in endurance athletes that slept less than 7 hours. Sleep is crucial for injury prevention and effective recovery, protein synthesis, muscle recovery, immune system function, and inflammation response. 

Nutrition

Eating too much, not exercising too little may be at the core of weight gain
A fascinating new study finds that children that have a physically active lifestyle (in this particular study, living in the Amazon) do not burn more calories than the more sedentary children (in America). This suggests that obesity in children is more to do with the type and quantity of food consumed, not how active they are. It also supports findings that human energy expenditure is constrained within a range, meaning exercising more does not mean you spend more total calories overall, instead exercising more means you spend fewer calories on other metabolic tasks and no extra calories overall. 

Fitness

Music improves exercise efficiency (also here) 
Findings suggest that listening to music during exercise improves physical performance and oxygen utilisation. It also makes exercise seem easier and more enjoyable. 

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Productivity Tip

Never put a huge project as a single to-do item on your list. Instead, try to break it up into the smaller tasks to help you stay on track towards reaching your final goal

Habit Hack of the week

If you want to implement a new habit, make the new behaviour so small that it becomes impossible to fail

If you want to get in shape, start by doing 1 push up
If you want to read more, start by reading one page